No childhood lost to homelessness
Over 10,700 children in Scotland are stuck in temporary homeless accommodation that is anything but temporary.
They spend on average 406 days in temporary accommodation before getting a permanent home - more than an entire year of their childhood lost to homelessness.
Together, we can send a clear message to ministers: build more social homes.
The reality of child homelessness in Scotland
Temporary homes can have lower standards than permanent ones. Overcrowding, damp and mould and poor conditions are just some of the issues that families can face.
Families don't know if they will get a hotel, B&B, or temporary flat. They might stay in one place, or have to move several times.
Children can be placed in unfamiliar areas miles away from their schools, support networks and friends. Too often, families are given no choice but to accept harmful accommodation that does not meet their needs.
How it feels to be trapped in temporary homeless accommodation
In a letter to the First Minister, families shared their experiences of living in temporary accommodation.
Living in temporary accommodation means we can’t relax as we don’t know how long we will live here. For many of us, the accommodation doesn’t have space for our children to play or do their homework properly, and it’s not safe for them to go outside ... Our children’s mental health and our own as parents is struggling. It is not a childhood we want for our children ... please don’t think of our children as just a number.
— Parents of children stuck in temporary homeless accommodation, in their letter to the First Minister
Scotland is in a housing emergency
Decades of underinvestment and the failure to build enough social homes have caused a housing emergency.
Scotland needs more family-sized social homes to enable families to leave temporary homeless accommodation. Without these, another generation of children will be stuck in the broken housing system with no way out.
The Scottish Government promised to deliver 110,000 social homes by 2032, but so far only one third of those homes have been built.
Meanwhile, the number of children in temporary homeless accommodation has more than doubled in the past 10 years, and every day, 40 more children in Scotland become homeless - roughly two classrooms every 24 hours.
Promises will not end child homelessness. Building social homes will.
Change is possible
The Scottish Government has promised to end the use of unsafe and harmful temporary homeless accommodation for children. When they set their budget for next year, they must invest in family-sized social homes and give councils the support they need to make that promise a reality.
Delivering more social homes is the only way to lift children out of homelessness and in to safe and secure homes.
Help us build the pressure needed to turn their commitments into action – until every child in Scotland has a place to call home.
Childhood won't wait.